The Family Reunion
by HarryGinnyDxC
Summary: Jeff is invited to a family reunion, and Annie ends up tagging along.
1. Chapter 1

Jeff Winger lumbers into his apartment, leaning heavily against his cheap pine door, and is greeted by silence. The silence is an eerie quiet that is in direct contrast to his experience earlier that the night at the Ballroom. The thumping music still rings in his ears, and the stale smell of cigarettes and alcohol lingers in his nostrils. He closes the door with a loud thud, and the sound echoes throughout the sparsely furnished apartment. Jeff manages to swing his large frame onto the living room couch, the only real piece of furniture left in the living room. His makeshift end table is comprised of two crates that were hastily nailed together, and the coffee table he once owned is gone (Jeff blames Chang and his love for saws for the table's disappearance). He leans back heavily on the couch and lets out a groan. His head is still slightly foggy from the scotch he'd consumed that night, yet the words printed on the letter he'd received today are still etched clearly in his mind.

_To Jeffery Winger,_

_The Winger, James, and Thomas families sincerely invite you to our extended family reunion on July 26__th __and 27__th__ 2014. We are hoping every member of our three clans can join us in celebrating our large and happy family. Each member of the family is welcome to bring one guest from outside the family. Please RSVP by July 15__th__ and let us know if you will be bringing a guest!_

That letter in itself was enough to make Jeff reach for his shittiest bottle of scotch, with the intent of getting as drunk as possible, but the call from Jeff's mother made him want to drink himself into a coma.

_"Jeffery Winger, I have news for you." _She had said as soon Jeff had answered the phone. He had tried to act nonchalant, but his mother's tone of voice concerned him. Was she sick? Had something happened to her?

_"Jeff, your father called today."_

Maybe it was the way she had said it so abruptly that had frozen Jeff. It certainly wasn't the fact that his father – the man who had abandoned him and his mom so many years ago – had called the main person in his life that Jeff wouldn't want him to have contact with.

"_Jeffery?" _She had said, concern seeping into her voice. _"Jeff, are you still there?"_

He nodded and then remembered that his mother couldn't see him.

"_Yeah mom, I'm still here."_

"_Jeff, your father wanted to invite you to some sort of family reunion. He said that he wanted his 'successful' son to be there. I'm sure he just wants to show you off, but Jeffery dear, don't let the opportunity to meet the rest of your family slip away because your father is the biggest tool in the world."_

Jeff had begun to pace across his room at this point in the conversation, tugging at his hair with his free hand. His mother wanted him to go to the stupid family reunion? Was she crazy? It wasn't like he didn't already have a lot to deal with. He had been slowly processing how he felt about Annie Edison, the one girl in the world that he couldn't stand losing. This reunion would just cause more unnecessary stress for him, plus it would take a precious weekend of his fairly short summer away from him.

"_Mom, I don't know…"_

"_Jeffery, his family didn't even know about you until after he left. Give them a chance, they aren't the terrible people you think they are."_

"_Fine, I'll think about it. Is that all you needed to talk to me about?"_

_ "Yes Jeffery," _She had said with a sigh, _"that's all we needed to talk about."_

_ "Well I better get going then."_

_ "Okay Jeffery, love you."_

_ "Love you too mom, I'll talk to you later." _Jeff had hit the end call button almost immediately, and had then proceeded to chuck his precious blackberry across the room. It had hit the wall and then bounced harmlessly onto his bed. Jeff had sighed and walked up to the bed and grabbed his cell phone, jacket, and car keys. He had then walked out the door, jumped in his car, and raced to the Ballroom with the sole purpose of getting trashed so he wouldn't have to think about the reunion again.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff wakes up the next morning on his uncomfortably small couch. He lets out a loud moan of discomfort as he rises from it, taking care to stretch his limbs that are tight and in pain. Once up and on his feet, Jeff's head begins throbbing – thumping a rhythm in time with his heartbeat. He trudges over to the kitchen and pours himself a glass of water, not even bothering to turn the lights on for fear of an even worse headache. He then staggers to his bathroom where he looks through the medicine cabinet until his hands wrap around the precious Advil bottle.

"Thank God," He murmurs as he throws the Advil into his mouth and drinks a swig of water. He looks up to see himself in the mirror and can't help but groan upon seeing his sweaty, pale face. He turns the tap on and slowly rinses his face, doing his best to remove the sweat and the dank smell of consumed alcohol. After five minutes he gives up, deciding that he needs a shower too badly to wait much longer. He showers slowly, using his favorite body wash to remove the smell of bar from his skin. Once he exits the shower and puts on some clothes in his room he decides he is feeling well enough to try a piece of toast with butter. He is walking over to the kitchen when the doorbell rang, which only increases the pounding in his head. He lumbers over to the door, determined to yell at whoever disrupted the delicate ecosystem that is his hung over mind.

"What do you – " He begins as he throws the door open. He stops upon seeing familiar blue eyes looking up at him.

"I'm so sorry Jeff, is this a bad time? Because it looks like a bad time, I shouldn't have come by so early and –-" Annie rambles as she looks up at Jeff with her doe eyes. He can't help but wonder why the hell Annie was at his door on a Sunday morning (or afternoon, he hasn't checked the time but it looks pretty bright out).

"Don't worry about it Annie," Jeff says as he gestures for her to enter his apartment, "so what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I came over to drop off some law books I found at the library the other day. I figured you could use them for your classes next year." Annie says as she gestures to the pile of books in her hands that Jeff was only noticing just now. He just smiles, nods, and tells her to put them on the kitchen table. Her being in his apartment after a night of heavy drinking wouldn't have ever been easy for him, but now that he has realized that he cares about her in a romantic way he feels compelled to be as nice, courteous, and not hung over as possible.

"Jeff?"

"Yeah, Annie?"

"What's this?" She says as she holds up the invitation to the Winger family reunion. At that moment he would like nothing more than for her to just drop the invitation, forget about it, and not care about him. But, of course, she is Miss Annie Edison, genius, competitive, and over-caring so she won't drop it like he wishes she would.

"It's just an invitation," He replies, doing his best to remain nonchalant.

"Jeff, this is an invitation from your _father_."

"Correction, it's actually from my father's family."

"Jeff, it's an invitation to a _family_ reunion." She says emphasizing the fact that this is an invitation to a reunion of family members he doesn't even know.

"Yeah, I know. I don't even know why they sent it to me. My father must've convinced them to send me an invite."

"Are you going to go?" She asks with wide eyes, curiosity leaking its way into her voice. After hearing about Jeff's Thanksgiving with his father, Annie can't help herself. She has always wanted to know more about Jeff's relationships with his parents seeing as they both shared parental troubles.

"I haven't decided yet, my mom thinks I should go." Jeff says as he grabs the invitation out of Annie's hands. He glances down at it, feeling the edges of the obviously expensive paper. He can't help but think that the invitations must have cost a fortune.

"Well, I think you should do what you want to do. If you're ready to meet your family then go, if you're not there yet emotionally you shouldn't." Annie says as she nods. Jeff can't help but smile. Apparently, Annie has started delivering short but meaningful Winger speeches. This train of thought has him thinking about her last Winger speech and the feelings that came to light because of it. The invitation did say he could bring a guest, and going with Annie would make the whole process a lot less painful…

"Would you like to go with me?" He blurts out before he can change his mind. For a second he regrets it as he sees her expression flicker to an emotion that he can't quite name but is related to distress and maybe a little sadness. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or –" He starts saying watching as her expression changes to determined.

"Jeff, if you want me there, I'll be there." She says firmly. He nods and gives her a tentative smile and she responds by giving him a beaming smile and a hug. He might hug her for a little longer than is acceptable for just friends, but Annie's hugs have always comforted him and he can't help but crave a little comfort given his situation. He breathes in and his nostrils are affronted by a flowery smell coming from Annie's hair. Had she changed her shampoo? He doesn't remember it smelling this fucking fantastic the last time they hugged, though admittedly that had been quite a while ago. He then comes to the conclusion that he was an idiot for taking so long to hug her again because hugging Annie is probably one of the greatest things in the world. They both let go eventually, trying to hide their smiles from one another. Annie tells him that she better get back to her apartment and change for work (at which point he remembers that she is working at the shittiest bar in town). Jeff nods and makes up an excuse about having to work out, though of course he will do no such thing in his hung over state. She says goodbye and walks out the door and he closes it behind her sighing heavily as he thinks about what he has just agreed to.


	3. Chapter 3

It's July 26th at 9 in the morning the next time Annie knocks on his door. Jeff ambles over to it; his stylish leather bag slung over one shoulder. He opens it to reveal a beaming Annie Edison who is much too cheery for 9 am on a Saturday.

"I swear, are you a Disney princess or something? It's inhuman to be so awake and functioning before 11 o'clock on a Saturday!" Jeff says as he steps out of the apartment and locks the front door behind him.

"Well, unlike you Jeff, I don't tend to go out on Friday evenings. Instead I get to bed early so I can be ready to do study or run errands in the morning." She says with a huff as she follows him down the stairs in his apartment building to his Lexus. He just grins and opens the passenger door for her after throwing their bags in the trunk.

"Milady," He says with a flirtatious grin on his face. Annie hesitates before she smiles back, and replies "Milord."

The family reunion is in Denver so they drive for two hours. Throughout the drive they talk about school, songs on the radio, and their friends. This helps make the drive go by quickly, and Jeff is pulling up to the hotel where the reunion will be taking place before he knows it. They get out of the car, grab their bags, and walk to the front lobby. They stroll up to the front desk and attempt to check in to their respective rooms. Apparently there was an error in the system though because they've both been booked the same room, which of course only has one queen-sized bed. The whole situation is so ridiculous that all Jeff can do is let out a mirthless chuckle and grab the keys from the clerk who gives both him and Annie gift certificates for the restaurant downstairs.

They walk up to their room dragging their luggage behind them, and gasp when they open the door. The room is breathtakingly beautiful and the view of the pool out the window is actually so nice that they forget for a moment how utterly awkward this situation will be in the evening. They unpack and get dressed in their formal attire, taking turns getting ready in the bathroom. Jeff gets ready first and when he walks out of the bathroom Annie has to hold back a gasp and try not to gawk too much. He looks stunning in an old Armani suit of his that she's never seen before, and at that moment she's pretty sure Jeff should've been a male model. He smiles as he catches her eyes and lets out a chuckle when she breaks eye contact and rushes into the bathroom. She's the one laughing when she walks out though because Jeff can't even pretend he's not absolutely floored by how stunning she looks. Annie just smiles, shakes her head, and grabs his hand as she drags him out of their room and down to the conference center where the reunion is being held. He's so distracted by Annie and her spectacular blue dress that hugs every curve that he doesn't even realize he's at the family reunion until his half-brother Willy is hugging him, tears running down his face as he yammers on about something or other. Jeff just grunts, pushes Willy away, and clings to Annie's hand as the reality of his situation hits him like a bullet train.

"I don't think I can do this," Jeff whispers in Annie's ear, "I was crazy for thinking I was ready."

"If you want to go Jeff, we can. It's up to you." She whispers in his ear, unintentionally brushing her lips against it. The feel of Annie's hot breath on his face makes every nerve ending in his body extremely sensitive and soon he's hyper aware of just how close her body really is. He decides then that he can make it through this reunion as long as Annie is there to distract him.

"We'll stay, on the condition that you don't leave my side. I need you." He practically growls the last bit and Annie is so flustered that she can't help but stammer out a nonsensical agreement. Jeff doesn't seem to notice though as he pulls himself away from her and gazes around the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeff is clinging to Annie's hand when he hears the voice of the one man that he truly can't stand.

"Jeffery!" William Winger Sr. calls out. Jeff turns around and grits his teeth. He's starting to doubt that the last year of therapy actually helped him at all because when he sees his father he can't help but want to wipe the smug grin (that Jeff grudgingly admits he inherited) off his father's face. And, for Jeff, it'd be preferable if this could be achieved with his fist. Annie must sense his tension because she grips his hand even tighter and gives him an encouraging smile. Jeff briefly smiles back and then looks up at the man who really should be paying for all of Jeff's therapy bills.

"William," He says deciding that the more formal and icy he is the less room his father will have to hurt him. He allows himself, in that moment, to put his old walls back up.

"Jeffery, looking good son. Who is this fine young lady hanging off your arm tonight?" William says as he holds out his hand for Jeff to shake.

"She is not hanging off my arm!" Jeff says indignantly, "This is my friend, Annie Edison."

"Ah, Miss Edison what a pleasure to make your acquaintance." William says as he grabs Annie's hand and pecks it. Annie has to admit that Jeff's Winger charm is genetic because even though Annie hates the man standing in front of her, she has to admit that he has charisma.

"Um, nice to meet you too." Annie says as she pulls her hand away from him. She looks up to she Jeff wearing an expression that is foreboding and so she decides to lighten the mood by mentioning how much she would like a drink. William obliges happily, sending a wink Annie's way as he walks towards the bar. She can't even pretend to hide her disgusted expression, and neither can Jeff.

"I'm so sorry Annie," He says apologetically, and the look on his face makes Annie's heart melt. He looks so vulnerable, and even though Annie is still a little more than upset with Jeff for the whole panic engagement to Britta, she knows that she'll do whatever it takes to help Jeff make it through this reunion.


End file.
